Vampire Dreams

(copied from the old message board)

Vampires, Tristes, and all higher Nyeusi (all who are ageless and/or technically dead) do not create dreams. Elementals do not dream. Dreaming in Nyeusigrube is something only mortals are capable of- humans, witches, shapeshifters. Which doesn't yet answer your question.

There are a few theories.

One of the more arrogant explanations is that Nyeusi do not dream because elementals are the cause of dreams. One of the few ways a pure immortal elemental (unbound) can interact with the mortal world is by drifting through the minds of mortals- most often, through their dreams. Sometimes they can affect dreams, or cause them, and sometimes they are caused by them-- powerful minds are what cause the formless powers to take conscience and become the elementals we interact with. Either way, elementals themselves do not create these dreams; they don't even sleep. Therefore, those saturated and maintained by their power, like the ageless Nyeusi, also do not dream.

For a more scientific explanation:

Dreaming, according to recent scientific theory, is our mind's waking interpretation of the semi-random firing of neurons that occured while we were in MRI sleep. This firing is what happens as our brain strengthens connections formed during the day-- in short, memory consolidation. Which brings us to memory.

The memory of the higher Nyeusi is a strange thing. Vampires, for example, have perfect recall- and yet this memory is absolutely independant of the brain. If you took an MRI of a vampire's brain, or a CAT scan or a PET scan or anything designed to tell you what was going on, you would see remarkably little activity. Just as the heart does not beat, synapses do not fire.

You may recall that all nyeusi are telepathic to some degree. The more immortal the creature is (vampires being the most, and Smoke witches among the least), the stronger this ability is. Those who spend a great deal of time around vampires, independant of any exchange of blood, often pick up some power, among that mild telepathy or empathy. Now let me bring to your attention an interesting example: Jessica, a mortal with some vampiric experience, who in sleep experiences the memories of other nyeusi. Why?

Memories are stored in synapses and vampires have no active synapses-- personally. They do, however, touch minds with a great many mortals, in such a way that even humans who are compleatly innocent of Nyeusigrube still often experience anxiety around vampires. To put it more clearly, these innocents experience a piece of a memory.

When a vampire sleeps, she relives her own past, or she shares dreams with mortals-- but there is no REM sleep, no memory consolidation, and hence, no dreams. The vampiric brain is not the gray matter left in a dead body; it is the untold trillions of cells that make up the mortal world.